Financial firms, on the other hand, took heart from higher US yields and bucked the broad market. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group advanced 1.6 per cent and Dai-ichi Life Holdings rose 1.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, Japan Display Inc jumped more than 6.0 per cent after Kyodo reported that it is discussing an investment of more than 200 billion yen from three Chinese panel makers including BOE Technology Group Co.